Rejected
by Axrat
Summary: Riku still hasn't returned after he quit being the Keyblader of Darkness. Sora's still upset, but he still has his job as a Keyblader to fill. He and Roxas have another new world to visit; Earth, the world where all worlds meet.
1. PROLOGUE: Easter eggs and hiking trips

Author's notes: 'Ello there! Happy Easter! Chocolate tastes good. I decided to start this off with a bit of an Easter-themed prologue. I saw a group of kids from the nearby school at the hospital the other day giving out chocolate in the children's ward, and I saw them heading to the mental ward afterwards. If you were one of those kids, I applaud you.

If you read Orgy Mishaps then you might recognize Tara. Sarah's going to show her face up later (aren't you, Rahssie?)

**Rejected**

"How much chocolate do we have left?"

"Too much."

"No kidding."

"We've just got the mental ward to go to."

"We have to give a lot more out."

The group of five girls looked between the five baskets of chocolate Easter eggs looked at each other as they tried to decide what they were going to do. The baskets were still half full with one ward left.

"What are we going to do with the leftovers?"

"It'll be our lunch." One of the brunette girls joked, setting her basket of chocolate down to pull her hair out of its loose ponytail and retie it, before picking the basket back up. "Let's wait for the nurse and Ms. Miller and decide later."

It wasn't long before the teacher in question and a nurse walked up to the girls and began to lead them down the hall.

"Now remember, girls," the teacher, a woman in her mid-twenties spoke, "these people aren't necessarily mentally challenged."

"Some might have something like depression." The brunette added in. The teacher, Ms. Miller, nodded.

* * *

"There's one more, under the tree out there." The nurse pointed out the dinning room's glass sliding door, which opened into the garden. It was lunch time, so everyone was eating.

"I'll go." The American brunette volunteered, and looked at Ms. Miller.

"Go ahead, Tara."

Tara walked out into the garden. The eighteen year old under the tree was facing away from her, his silvery hair tucked into the back of his shirt, as if he was trying to hide its length. His food tray beside him looked untouched.

"Hel…lo?" Tara asked hesitantly. The teenager glanced over at her.

"Konnichiwa." He muttered.

"Konnichiwa." Tara hesitated for a moment. "O'namae wa nan desu ka?"

The teenager hesitated. "Namae wa Kenji desu. Namae wa?"

"Tara desu." Tara smiled. "Glad to know I'm not the only one who can speak Japanese."

"Aye." Kenji nodded.

"Chocolate?" Tara offered some chocolate eggs to him.

"Sure, why not." He shrugged, and she sat the chocolate on the food tray. "You look familiar… did you go to an anime convention lately?"

"Yeah." Tara replied. "Last month. I was bored so I threw on an Organization XIII cloak and played DDR all day."

"Remember that Riku cosplayer?"

Tara seemed to squint for a moment. "That wasn't you, was it?" She exclaimed. Kenji nodded.

"Yeah." His eyes seemed distant, as if remembering a far-off past.

"I've gotta go. Sayoonara."

"Sayoonara." Kenji replied as Tara left and walked back to her group. He picked up one of the eggs she had left, and ate it slowly. Something seemed… odd about Tara, he noticed. Not the accent, either (GEE, THANKS). He shrugged it off as a figment of his imagination.

After he ate some of his lunch and the chocolate, Kenji retreated to his room. It was pretty plain, white walls, grayish white carpet, a window, a television, a bed with white sheets and a dresser. A black leather wristband was sitting on top of the dresser, the purple amethyst in it seeming to almost glow.

"I'm no cosplayer." Kenji muttered, picking up the wristband and staring at the amethyst. "But my past is not one this world should be concerned with outside of their video games." He sighed, and looked at the walkie-talkie device beside the wristband. He picked it up and turned it on, keeping the volume to a point where only he could hear it if it was beside his ear.

"Careful, Sora, try not to fall… idiot! Can you climb back up?"

"I don't think so. I hurt my wrist; twisted it."

"Stay there, I'll get help."

"Well it's not like I can go anywhere except down and to my death."

Kenji pressed the talk button on his walkie-talkie. "Don't die, you two."

There was a pause.

"R-Riku? Riku, is that you? Please Riku… come home... at least for one day… please?"

Kenji turned the radio off and put it away. He lay down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. He could feel a sense of desperation radiating from one of the connections on his heart. He ignored it. He was feeling sorry enough for himself already; he didn't need Sora's emotions adding onto it. His hair scratched uncomfortably against his back, but he ignored it.

"Sorry, Sora…"

* * *

Sora slammed his hand against the ground, and realized he should've used the other hand. He yelped as a sharp pain shot up his arm.

"You okay?" Roxas asked over the radio. Sora picked it up.

"Y-yeah."

"Try not to move too much. That's not a very big ledge."

"No kidding."

Sora was positioned on the side of a large, steep, rocky hill, on a small ledge that was half way up. It was a deadly fall down the hill, and he couldn't get back up onto the path because he had fallen off it and twisted his wrist. He was covered in scratches and bruises as well, since he wasn't wearing his armor.

Sora leaned against the side of the hill. Riku, why are you doing this to us? We need you… He wanted nothing more than for his older brother to come home. He glanced up, and a rope was thrown down to him.

"Tie it around your waist." Roxas called down to him. There were two others with him that Sora couldn't recognize. Using his uninjured hand, Sora managed to tie the rope around him. He activated his armor only up to his right elbow to act as somewhat of a brace for his injured wrist. He gripped the rope with his left hand as the three people on the path above began to pull on it. He used his legs best he could, but there weren't many footholds and he kept slipping.

Once he was finally back on the path, one of the two men that had helped Roxas took a look at Sora's wrist.

"Sprained, possibly. You're going to need a brace for it." He commented. "But, it could have been worse."

"Much worse." Sora agreed, clutching his wrist. He sighed, and Roxas put a hand on his shoulder.

"Sora, he'll come home when he's ready." He then looked at the other two. "Thank you for your help." They nodded. Roxas opened a portal and led Sora through it, before following.

On the other side, Sora retreated straight to his room, leaving Roxas to explain to his father.

"Riku made contact again; told us not to die." He explained.

"Ah…"

"Also, Sora needs a brace for his wrist. He fell and sprained it."

"I'll give Sam a call; she went to the shops not long ago."

After he called Sam, he headed upstairs and into Sora's room. He sat beside the Keyblade Master and wrapped hi s arms around him.

"Riku will come home in his own time, alright? Think of it this way, he's alive, well, and still cares. If he didn't care, he wouldn't tell you to stay alive."

Sora didn't answer; just curled up and buried his face.

"I miss him." Sora finally whispered.

"I miss him, too."


	2. First Day on Earth and Insane Earthlings

Author's notes: Tara and Sarah both show up in this one. Oh, the conversations between the two of them are just like the conversations me and Sarah's real life form have. Oh yes, we have some very random conversations (and we talk reallyreallreallyreallyreally fast). And yes, the topic changes in our conversations are just like the ones we have in real life (aren't they, Rahsax?)

**Rejected**

"Gods, this brace itches…"

Roxas shook his head at Sora's complaint. "Well, maybe if you hadn't fallen you wouldn't need a brace." Sora glared at him.

The two were inside a small shopping center; all the shops were visible from where they stood. It was flat and one story, no stairs or ramps needed. People passed by them quickly.

"Welcome to Earth." Roxas had muttered when they showed up. They were supposed to meet one of Sam's contacts and become acquainted with this world.

"Where did Sam say to meet her friend?" Sora asked Roxas.

"The book store, I think." The Nobody replied, pointing to the store closest to the doors. The two walked over and stood outside for a moment, trying to see if they could spot anyone of interest. They could hear two teenaged girls inside the shop chatting back and forth.

"Y'know, I used to really like Twilight, but," the girl's accent was thick American with a slight Canadian tinge, they later learned, "it's everywhere now and it's driving me insane. Even Kaylee and her group are obsessed with it. Not to mention Ellie; she's almost worse with Twilight than I am with Kingdom Hearts!"

"I highly doubt that, Tara. Kingdom Hearts is all you talk about anymore." The other girl laughed.

"Just as bad, then."

Sora and Roxas looked at each other, confused. Were they talking about Kingdom Hearts? "The world where everything connects." Sora had to remind himself quietly.

"I've gotten 99% on Kingdom Hearts II, by the way."

"Really? What haven't you done?"

"I hate Atlantica."

"That's what the mute button on the remote is for."

"My TV doesn't have a mute button."

"Then just turn the volume down!"

"What's so bad about Atlantica?" Sora asked, stepping into the bookstore. The two girls, one a brunette whose hair was pulled back in a ponytail, the other had long, light brown with blond streaked hair that reached the small of her back. The brunette had her nose in a book titled _Inkdeath. _

The brunette had a gold, Phantom Hourglass Nintendo DS case hanging from her shoulder, and was wearing dark blue jeans and a baggy, grey T-shirt that read 'I'm probably not listening to you'. The blond wore black shorts and a red T-shirt. Both had sneakers on.

"Sora cannot sing to save his life unless he is singing someone to death." She answered without looking up from the pages. Roxas cupped his hands over his mouth to try and stifle his laughter. Sora stood there, jaw dropped. The brunette looked up at him, and then went back to her book, before doing a double take. "Errm…" She glanced at her friend, then at Sora again. "What's your older sister's name?"

"Sam." Sora answered. "It's short for Samantha."

The brunette closed her book. "Chotto matte kudasai." She said, before walking over to the counter, paying for the book and returning. "Sorry, but it's true." She said dully. "Follow me; my parents and grandparents are on vacation. They took my sister with them, so it'll just be us at my house." She walked out the door, the other girl following her. Sora and Roxas shrugged, before following them.

"So… what's your names?" Sora asked.

"I'm Tara, that's Sarah." The brunette answered, and then glanced at Sora's hand. "What happened to you?"

"Sprained my wrist while hiking." Sora answered.

"I sprained my ankle once… I was on crutches for two weeks." Tara commented, but then stopped. "Kyle!" A boy, only about a year younger than her, looked over.

"Tara! I didn't know you were back from Ipswitch!"

"Got back yesterday, Kyle." Tara laughed. "I am jealous of the Japanese. They get Kingdom Hearts before us." She half-pouted. "I want 358/2 Days…"

"I don't know why." Sarah rolled her eyes.

"Multi-player, _plus, _it's not about Sora! That's a plus, isn't it?"

"I'm going to assume they don't like me and not say anything." Sora commented to Roxas quietly.

"Besides," Tara added, "Xion seems cool."

"Xion is a mary-sue. They only threw her in to ruin the AkuRoku relationship!" Sarah shot back.

"Hey, RokuShi is better than Roxine."

"Good point."

"I have those occasionally."

"Anyway, _besides, _we haven't even played the game. Until we do all Keyblade-wielding friends of Roxas are mary-sues."

Tara laughed. Kyle had been laughing at them the whole time.

"They lost me when the boy showed up." Roxas nodded. "Yeah, about then."

"Anyway," Tara yawned. "See you at school, Kyle." She waved. Kyle waved and headed into the shopping center.

Tara and Sarah then continued to lead the way down the streets, going back and forth with little exchanges.

"Tara-san? That you?"

Tara stopped at the top of a street of houses and glanced around until she spotted the eighteen year old across the street.

"Kenji –san!" She laughed. He let out a solitary laugh and darted across the street. "You missed the convention last week."

"The hospital wouldn't let me leave; said I was 'mentally unstable'." Kenji explained. "And I couldn't find my blindfold." Tara laughed at him, shaking her head. "Or my cloak."

"Tsk, tsk." She teased.

Sora notice the similarities Kenji had to Riku, except the eyes. Kenji's eyes were brown. But Kenji's hair was silver and long, although it was tucked into the back of his shirt. Roxas noticed the distant expression on Sora's face and gently shook his shoulder.

"Sora, snap out of it."

Sora shook his head quickly. "Sorry."

Kenji had agreed to head over to Tara's house for a little while, since he 'had nothing else to do', he claimed.

"What about your parents? Family?" Sora asked him. Kenji bit his lip.

"Dropped out of school at year ten. Haven't seen them since." He answered after a pause.

The house was small, although it was two stories. The bottom floor was basically the living room, save for two small bedrooms off to the side, one that Tara pointed out as her's. The stairs were not stairs.

"Are these legal?" Kenji had asked. Had the stairs been any steeper, they would've been a ladder.

"Nope." Tara replied. "And I have to go up and down them several times a day. Fell down them once, too. Feet-first, though." As if to prove her first point, she ran up the stairs. Kenji laughed at her, and then ran, er, jumped, up them two at a time. "SHOW OFF!"

"What?" Kenji shook his head. "You saw my cosplay."

"You _ran up the friggin wall._" Tara rolled her eyes. "You wouldn't make a half-bad Envy cosplayer… hmm…"

"No thanks." Kenji shook his head. "I'll stick to Riku."

"You do that. I suddenly want to watch Conqueror of Shambala…"

"NO!" Sarah snapped. "You are NOT watching Fullmetal Alchemist!" Tara pouted.

"But I like FMA…"

"I do not."

"Fine, I'll just watch Star Wars."

"NO."

In a second, Sarah's hands were around Tara's neck. Tara twisted and pulled away, then stumbled off, cracking up laughing.

The upstairs had wood flooring. The first thing you saw at the top of the stairs was the kitchen, then, against the wall was a computer desk, with a laptop on it. On the shelf of the desk were a lot of games.

"Sims2." Kenji commented, looking at the games. "You're missing Free Time."

"Yeah, I know." Tara replied. "Turned my Zexion Sim into a warlock. I was bored at the time."

"Evil or good?"

"Just a warlock." Tara answered. "He's also a vampire. My Saix Sim is a werewolf… Sora's a zombie."

Roxas snorted.

"And my Roxas Sim is a, quote, 'Infallibly Good Warlock'"

Roxas froze in horror, and Sora cracked up laughing.

Beside the stairs was the table, up against the rail that prevented you from falling down from the side. It was cluttered with papers and what not. Off behind the rail in the corner was a TV with a GameCube and a Playstation 2 hooked up to it.

"RE: Chain of Memories?" Kenji held up the case.

"Yup." Tara nodded. "Fun game. Hate the card system though."

"How far are you?" He asked.

"About to start the Rebirth part."

"So you killed Marluxia?"

"Yup. What about you?"

"Haven't actually played it."

"You should." She looked over at Sarah. "Larxene." Sarah laughed. "'I'm not gunna break the toy, I'm not dumb.'"

"If you just look at that line, you might think she's talking to someone else about Axel!" She laughed. Tara nodded, smirking, before she turned on the radio beside the wide screen TV.

"Good song!" She commented after awhile, and began singing along.

"What's it called?" Kenji asked, munching on some Pocky he had scabbed out of the kitchen cupboard.

"Breakeven by The Script." Tara replied in a break in the lyrics, and then went back to singing.

"God, don't sing." Sarah muttered. Tara ignored her.

"_What am I supposed to do when the best part of me was always you? What am I supposed to say when I'm all choked up that you're okay? I'm falling to…" _Tara had stopped due to the hand held over her mouth. She grumbled something, but it was muffled. Sarah suddenly yanked her hand back.

"GROSS TARA." She said, whipping her hand on Tara's sleeve. The brunette shrugged.

"I'm gunna play the PS2." She decided. "Might start over on COM, though… hmmmm…"

Sora paid her no mind. He had slumped into a lounge chair that faced the main TV; a widescreen plasma. A Nintendo Wii was plugged into it, along with an HD set top box and a DVD player. Something was tugging at his heartstrings, not twanging, just pulling at them. Roxas felt it, too, but ignored it.

Nothing really eventful happened for the rest of the day. Tara decided against playing the PS2 and settled for watching a movie – Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. She laughed at Roxas almost straight off the bat when he saw Reno.

"Reno is Axel's Somebody, supposedly." She explained.

"O…kay."

Kenji ended up zoning out on the couch. Sarah and Tara retreated downstairs. Sora fell asleep sideways in the lounge chair, and Roxas ended up on the floor.

* * *

Tara frowned. She had just woken up Sora and Roxas, but something was missing. No, someone.

"Didn't Kenji zone out on the couch?" She asked.

"Yeah." Roxas answered.

Almost on cue, the screen door near the top of the stairs opened and Kenji stepped in.

"What were you doing outside?" Tara asked.

"Couldn't sleep." Kenji answered. He slumped down on the couch. He didn't look tired. "Mind if I play on the PS2?" He asked suddenly.

"Go ahead." Tara replied. Kenji got up and walked over to the TV in the corner, turning on the console and began playing without another word. Tara then looked over at Sora, who was curled up into a ball, hugging his knees. "Are you okay?" Sora shook his head. Tara bit her lip, unsure of what to do. She noticed Kenji hesitate for a moment, as if he was debating whether or not to help Sora. He must've decided against helping him, because he went back to the game.

"What's wrong?" Tara asked finally.

"Riku…" Was the only answer Sora offered her.

"Leave him." Roxas spoke. "He'll calm down in a moment. This happens every once in awhile. He can't help it. He misses Riku." Tara bit her lip, but nodded and sat down on the couch.

Sora sat there for a couple of hours, not moving. Eventually Kenji turned off the PS2 and walked over. Sora didn't even pay attention to what they were watching, Conqueror of Something-or-other. Eventually he began watching it, but was completely lost, and was only really half paying attention to it.

"Roxas…" Sora looked at his Nobody. "I know you're not unaware. He's not far from here…"

"Sora, you try seeking Riku out and he might not come home. He'll return when he's ready." Roxas looked Sora in the eyes as he spoke. Sora could feel his frustration through their connection.

"Sorry." Sora hung his head. Roxas sighed and shook his head.

"Don't apologize."

"What's Sora not apologizing for?"

"Hello, Sarah." Tara looked up at the near-blond. "Don't ask me."

"Family feud." Sora hummed.

"Since when was Riku family?" Tara questioned. Sora shook his head.

"Found out awhile back."

"Awwwww…" Sarah pouted. "That completely ruins the Soku relationship."

"It could be like Parental!RoyEd." Tara commented.

"You know that means nothing to me."

"FMA Fanfiction term."

"Yeah no. Still means nothing."

"Lust!Axel is cool."

"Okay, random."

"Axel likes Roxas, Lust hates Roxas. One minute Axel's in control, next minute Lust is trying to chop Roxas's head off."

"Interesting." Roxas clicked his tongue dully.

"I do a lot of roleplaying." Tara commented. "Oh, Mase is cool, too. ESPECIALLY when Ienzo's trying to kill him and Xion. And he's not a little kitten no more… although he and Serina were really cute as kittens… speaking of which… she hasn't shown her face in ages...(WARNING COPE, I AM PLANNING STUFF FOR DEE RP)"

"Didn't Zexion turn Roxas into Mase?" Sarah asked.

"Yep. Suffocated him by puncturing his wind pipe. Then he shot Axel in the head while Axel was clinging onto Mase. Then Riku ended up as a vampire, and Sora didn't want to leave him so Riku bit him."

"Mmm, blood." Kenji rolled his eyes.

"Let's see… what else happened…" Tara paused, and then started talking EXTREMELY fast (if you are a speed reader, SPEED READ and you will know how fast she is talking). "Oh, Ienzo attacked Mase, who was still half throwing up after Reno gave him chocolate not realizing that ANIMALS AND CHOCOLATE DO NOT MIX, and then threw him into a portal to a random area, where Reno later found him. Not to mention the run-in with Thrax and Ienzo in Seattle, and the fact that, since Sora is a vampire now, Thrax cannot kill him… let's see… Reno found Mase and thought he was dead because his fur wasn't blondish, it was redder than Red XIII's fur, Mase went off at him saying 'I'm not dead yet you idiot but I will be if you don't stop squeezing what blood I have left out'. And yeah… Ienzo kidnapped Xion and locked her in a oversized bird cage, Braig is annoyed with him and... that's all I got."

"Did you catch any of that?" Roxas asked.

"I caught every word." Sarah answered.

"Oh…"

This was going to make for an interesting week. Oh yes…


	3. Immigration Problems

Author's notes: I just realised, this starts funny and ends seriously...

**Rejected**

Sora glanced over at Tara, who was flipping through music on her Ipod. Suddenly she stopped, and grinned evilly.

"Sarah,"

"Yes?"

"Don't strangle me; I've got to put this song on the speakers."

"What song?"

Sarah walked over and then promptly grinned evilly when she saw the song title.

"CHOTTO MATTE!" Tara darted down the ladder of a staircase, and came back up with an Ipal. She plugged the Ipod in and then pressed play.

Sora was sure he would never, EVER, see Roxas's face go redder.

"Wh-what song i-is this?" Roxas stumbled over the words.

"Beautiful Soul by Jesse McCartney." Sarah replied evilly. Kenji snorted.

"The Disney 'child prodigy'?"

"Yup."

"Disney chose him to be a certain someone's voice actor." Tara explained. "Thus giving Roxas his voice."

"LALALALALALALALALA." Roxas plugged his ears, trying to drain out the music.

"Okay, now I just need to find the Gate."

"And a portal through time." Kenji added.

"Why?" Tara tilted her head slightly.

"Because the FMA anime takes place in the 1930s, the movie around 1938."

"Aw damn it." Tara cursed.

Tara turned off the Ipod and put it away. "Soooooooooooooo… I'm-a gunna play on the computer." She said, then walked over to the laptop and turned it on.

"So surprising." Sarah rolled her eyes, her voice thick with sarcasm.

_"You shouldn't hide yourself."_

Kenji didn't answer the voice. It sounded like Rachael. _Great. I should be back in the mental hospital if this is starting up again. _He thought sourly.

"SHIT."

Kenji looked up. A loud crash had rang from the kitchen. Tara had gotten up from the computer while it was loading. "I'll deal with it." He got up and walked around the rectangular opening and took a step to the right. "You okay?"

"Fuck no." Tara replied, clutching her hand. Two shattered plates were half on the counter, half on the floor.

"Show me," Kenji extended a hand. His mind told him not to do this but he couldn't just let her bleed. Tara gingerly put her bloodied up, injured hand in his. He held his other hand over it. "Curaga." The word was barely audible, but the effects were all too visible. Tara's eyes widened.

"You… You're…"

"Sh." Kenji shook his head. "Don't tell Sora." He walked over to the shattered plates and began picking up the pieces. Tara helped him out.

"Why are you hiding?"

"I'm not ready to go home."

"Then why are you watching over him?"

"Because. Danger and Sora go hand-in-hand. I can't just walk away and hope that nothing happens, because something _will _happen."

"You sound so sure…"

"I am." Kenji replied, throwing out the remainder of the broken plates. He left the kitchen and retreated over to the PS2. Tara hesitated, before returning to the computer. It wasn't long before a loud knock sounded on the downstairs sliding glass door. Tara darted down to answer it. She came back up and stepped aside as a couple cops came upstairs. Kenji, Sora, Roxas and Sarah all looked at them questioningly.

"We're from Immigration. We're looking for a Kenji Asano."

"That's me…" Kenji spoke.

"You're under arrest."

"On what charges?" Kenji retorted.

"The hospital's legal documents didn't check out. We checked with the Japanese government and our own. Kenji Asano _does not exist._"

Kenji sat the Playstation controller on the floor and raised his hands above his head, getting down on his knees. The sleeves on his jacket slipped down to his elbows. Sora gasped, spotting the wristband.

"Riku!"

The Immigration Officers glanced over at Sora. "Who're you and what is your relation to this man?"

"He's my brother." Sora replied sourly. Roxas's hand met his face.

"I knew you were dumb, I mean, I am you so I kinda have to know that, but even I didn't realize you were _that _dumb." He sighed. Sora glared at him.

"You two, you're under arrest on the same charges as your brother."

"He's not my brother." Roxas retorted.

"On your knees with your hands in the air."

Roxas and Sora quickly complied, not wanting those firearms pointed at them.

"You idiots." Kenji muttered as his hands were cuffed behind his back. He was led down the stairs (which was not easy considering the steepness of the so-called stairs) and out the door, before into a van. Sora and Roxas were put in behind him, both sitting on the other side of the Immigration van.

"Why were you hiding from us?" Sora questioned, not looking up from the ground.

"I'm not ready to go home." Riku answered.

"We wouldn't have made you come home." Sora said quietly. Riku only hummed as the van started up and began moving.

No one was quite sure how long it took until the doors were opened up again. They were taken from the van and into an immigration building, before they were split up. Riku found himself in a low-lit interrogation room. His hands had been re-cuffed so they were in front of him, resting on the table.

"So, _Kenji,_" the officer who entered the room began, "you want to tell me your real name."

"No." Riku answered smugly.

"And why not?"

"Because I no speak engrish." Riku smirked. The officer gave him a dull expression that read 'don't play dumb with me.' "Besides," Riku leaned back in the chair. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." He tipped the chair back onto its back legs and balanced it there.

"Try me."

"Nah. Don't think I will."

"Listen-"

"Whatever happened to the 'right to remain silent'?" Riku shrugged. "And anything I say or do can be used against me in a court of law and blah blah blah."

"Tell me your real name."

"You want my real name? Okay, then," Riku rocked forwards to place all the chair legs on the ground, and mentally prepared a Dark Aura spell. "The name's Riku. Google image it." He used the spell on the hand cuffs, and then shot another one at the door. While the smoke cleared, he darted through and down the hallway.

* * *

"HALT!"

"Sorry, didn't know that cops ranked above me!" Sora shot back, jumping over a park bench. The broken chains from the handcuffs on his wrists tapped against his forearms as he ran as fast as he could across the grass. He only hoped Riku and Roxas were able to get out.

A gunshot rang out behind him, but he ignored it. As long as he wasn't hit majorly, it was fine. A shot nicked his arm as another gunshot sounded, causing blood to seep from the small gash, but he'd worry about it later. He jumped over someone crossing his path. Gods… he needed somewhere to hide. He needed to get away from the officers… which wasn't easy when you look like a cosplaying idiot. He glanced around. Was there somewhere he could get that they couldn't? Not likely… but there might be a place he could get to easier than them…

He spotted a school nearby. The closely placed buildings would be the perfect place to loose the cops. It was the weekend, so no one would be there, but that didn't worry him. Then maybe he could climb up to the roof of a building. A fence surrounded the school perimeter. That was no problem.

Without another thought, Sora changed directions. He easily jumped the fence and darted into a pathway between buildings. He darted around a corner, then behind a two-story building and gripped the windowsill and pulled himself onto it, before jumping up and grabbing the next, then springing onto the roof and crouching down, and sat somewhere in the middle of the roof, lying down so there was less of a chance of being spotted from the ground. Now he just had to wait for Roxas and Riku, and they could go home together…

* * *

"_Roxas, time to go." _

Roxas glanced down at his wristband, as did his interrogator. In a split second, the door was gone, destroyed by a Dark Aura spell. Roxas shot up from his chair and out the door, ignoring the handcuffs. A hand gripped onto the chain and yanked him through the dust from the door.

"Where's Sora?" Riku asked, somewhat desperately, pulling Roxas along as he darted down the hallways.

"Not here." Roxas answered. "If he was, we'd be able to sense the connection we have with him. He probably already escaped, but wasn't able to spring us loose."

The two darted out of the building and down the streets, cops hot on their trail. They ducked into a nearby park, so that cop cars couldn't follow them. Riku quickly used a Dark Aura spell on Roxas's handcuffs and released the chain as it shattered.

"Where would Sora go?" Roxas asked.

"Well, where would you go to hide?"

"Somewhere that would make it hard to follow me." Roxas answered. He looked over his shoulder as Riku tripped over a kid that had run out in front of them. The kid quickly ran off. Roxas hesitated.

"Get going!" Riku snapped at him. Roxas turned and continued on. Riku tried to run off, but a cop grabbed his arm. He responded by punching him in the face, causing the others to open fire. Riku called Soul Eater to his hand to block the bullets as they came at him. He lashed out with a kick at the nearest cop, but in the process let his guard down. He felt a pang of pain in his chest…

Then nothing.

Everything went black.

* * *

"Riku."

Riku groaned, and rubbed his forehead as he sat up. The area surrounding him was colored like the night sky, and swirled, trembled and rippled. He glanced beside him. Rachael knelt at his side. But something was off… she wasn't transparent as she had usually been.

"I'm dead." Riku sighed. The familiar feeling of no pain, no physical restriction had swept over him. Rachael nodded.

"Last time Sora saved you… but he doesn't know this time. If he is to save you, he must hurry."

"What about Roxas? Where is he?"

"You told him to run. He complied and didn't turn back."

"I'm such an idiot." Riku muttered.

"You haven't crossed over completely yet. There's still time. But soon you'll enter the spirit world, and then there is no return to life."

Riku looked at the swirling floor below him. "I don't want to die…"

"Neither did I, and do you think that Organization XIII wished to die?" She stood up again, took a few steps away and sighed. "Yes, even Nobodies get to come here. For Souls and Hearts are two different things completely. Souls become ghosts when we die, Hearts give us emotions, and life during our time as living. Souls give us life as the dead. Nobodies have Souls, but not Hearts."

"Great." The sarcasm was thick in his voice. "I really didn't want to meet them again."

"It's not like you can die here." Rachael replied with a shrug.

"Already dead."

"Exactly my point. The dead can't die again."

Neither spoke for awhile, until Riku asked a question.

"Rachael, how much time do you think has passed?"

"In the living world? Half an hour, I'd say…" She glanced back at Riku and smiled. "Time for me to go."

"Rachael, wait!" Riku shot to his feet.

Rachael turned away and faded away.

"Riku, return to us."

Riku turned around. Sora stood there, but he was transparent, his hand extended. Riku took his hand.

"We need you in our world."

Riku felt his hand slip.

"Riku!" Sora shot forwards and grabbed onto his wrist, but then Riku vanished. Sora fell to his knees. "Don't take him from me… please… give him back… I'll do anything…"

"Anything?"

Sora looked around. He couldn't find the source of the voice. It was a girl's voice, he noticed.

"Anything." Sora confirmed.

"Then we will arrange a series of challenges for you, Keyblade Master." A boy this time. "If you pass, we will return your brother to you."

"If you fail," the girl's voice continued, "you may die, you may live, but in the event of failure, Riku remains here with us."

"Are we understood?" The two questioned in unison. Sora nodded.

"Yes."

"Then while the trials are set you shall wander the spirit world. You will be dead to those in the world of the living for the duration of the trial." The girl finished, and the area changed. The colors remained the same, but the space increased, and others became visible.

* * *

Roxas glanced back at Sora. He'd fallen asleep a couple minutes before. Roxas made no move to wake him. Gunshots rang out below them.

"Crap." Roxas muttered, ducking down. He glanced over at Sora… wait a moment. Sora _wasn't breathing. _"Crap. His father's going to kill me, if Riku doesn't first." He lifted Sora into his arms and stood, before darting through a portal.

Sora and Riku's father was sitting on the couch, along with Sam, both watching something on the TV. They both looked up at Roxas, more specifically, the limp Keyblade Master in Roxas's arms. Sora's father was at his feet in a moment, checking his son for any signs of life. Finally, he stopped, sighed and took Sora from Roxas, then slumped down onto the couch.

"First Rachael dies, and then Riku storms out swearing his head off, and now this…" He muttered.

"We saw Riku." Roxas spoke up. Both Sam and her father looked at him hopefully.

"How is he?"

"Alive and well, last I saw him, kind of hard to tell now. We were on the run from immigration and split up."

"I should've thought about that." Sam shook her head. "Especially if Riku has been there for a decent amount of time."

"Riku doesn't know that Sora's dead, does he?" Sam's father questioned.

"No, he doesn't." Roxas answered. "Ah shit. He's going to be worse than Saix on fifty cups of coffee without his meds."

* * *

"Why are you doing this, Sora?" Riku looked his little brother in the eyes with a sense of desperation. Sora just grinned.

"How hard can a little trial be? Come on, soon we'll be back home, laughing about this all."

"Sora, I told you, I'm not ready to go back."

"I didn't say right away, did I?"

Riku only sighed. Sora was so persistent sometimes.

"Don't get killed." He put a hand on his younger brother's shoulder. Sora smiled.

"You forget who you're talking to here."

Riku chuckled and shook his head. "You're not invincible, Sora."

Sora just grinned and turned away to face a figure cloaked in darkness. "I'm ready."

"Then let the trials begin." It was the boy's voice from earlier, but it was apparent that it was the figure speaking. "Step this way, Keyblade Master."

Sora did so without hesitation, and a bright light engulfed him suddenly.

"_Oh, and one more thing,'_

" _You will not be able to use your Keyblade, magic, drives or any other special abilities you have."_


	4. Life, Death and Fate's Trials

**Rejected**

"You think he'll survive?" Riku asked, still staring at the spot where Sora had just stood. Rachael put a hand on his shoulder gently, but didn't speak. She couldn't promise anything. _No one ever succeeds… _She remembered. Riku walked away silently. He didn't want to think about what might happen to Sora. He didn't care if Sora managed to save him, as long as Sora lived.

"Whether he survives or not is up to Fate. His performance in the early trials will be what she makes her decision upon."

Everyone looked over at the red head, who seemed to be leaning on nothing.

"Axel." Riku realized.

"Never got to properly thank you for letting me go in Twilight Town." Axel commented. Riku shrugged.

"Don't mention it." _Ever. _

"Whatever you say. How's Roxas?"

"Alive." Riku shrugged.

"I'm quite aware of that."

"Well, not much more I can tell you. Last I saw him he was running for his life." Riku shrugged again, then walked off, but stopped. "What was the first thing you said? The thing about Fate?"

"Fate and Death. Two of a group of triplets. The youngest, Life, is never seen around here much. Fate's the oldest. She decides when someone is born, when they die, what they do in life and all that. Life and Death decide when, where and all that. The trials are arranged by her and Death, the brother. You could call them Gods, but anyone who has enough people following them could be considered a god."

"Huh. Never thought about it that way."

* * *

"You never mentioned that!" Sora exclaimed. He was in black, blue and gold arena, the stands gold, walls black and the floor blue. The stands were empty. Torches lit with flickering flames, golden, blue and black flames, were the only source of light (although the black torches sucked the light from the area instead of casting it along the ground, walls and stands).

"It would hardly be a challenge with your Keyblade."

Sora spun around. Three people stood in the middle row of the stands, all appearing to be about twelve, the tallest in the middle, with the shortest to her left, and the one on the right somewhere in between the two. The shortest was a girl, wore an intricate golden dress, with blue embroidery, the sleeves halting at her elbows. Her hair was sky blue, the back allowed to trail down to the small of her back, the sides braided and pinned together in the back, the ends allowed to flow in with the back of her hair. A silver circlet sat atop her head. Her hands were folded in front of her, and she was looking at the ground. She was probably the shy, timid one, Sora guessed.

The one on the right was a boy, with messy blood red hair which was grown out until it was level with the base of his skull. His eyes were scarlet, and glanced this way and that as if looking for a source of amusement. He had a slightly smug look on his face. He wore black leather pants, muddy army boots, and a zip shirt which was ripped diagonally at the bottom. It stopped at his waist on his right side, at his hip on his left. The ends were frayed, and Sora were surprised that they weren't unraveling. He also had a black leather jacket on, as well as a spiked dog collar and matching wristbands on either wrist.

The one in the middle was another girl, who appeared older than the other two; although Sora had guessed that they were triplets, with purple hair that was in three braids, one in the back, and one on each of the sides. The braids had then been braided together in the back. The end gently brushed against the ground. She was the one who had spoken. She was wearing a dark green miniskirt (you could just barely see the end of the shorts underneath), and a matching sleeve-less zip shirt (the sleeves appeared to have been cut off by a knife or something) that was cut off at the mid-drift. She also had army boots, and what looked to be part of two sleeves worn loosely on her forearms. They were a lighter green than the rest of her clothes, and were tied to her arm at either end.

"I am Fate. This is my brother, Death," the girl in the middle spoke, and motioned to the boy, "and this is my sister, Life." She motioned to the girl beside her. "We can't just go letting people live again for easy challenges, Sora. If we let you use your Keyblade, we might as well just revive your brother now. We'll start off easy. Death, your go."

Death snapped his fingers, and five Shadow Heartless appeared around Sora. He quickly front flipped out of the circle and spun around, to face the black ant-like creatures. He was NOT a hand-to-hand fighter. Anti-form was, but he couldn't use his drive forms. He tried to remember something from Anti-form, but nothing came to him.

The Heartless lunged at him, so he kicked at one and sent it sprawling into the wall. He jumped up and landed on top of another. Two down, three to go. He grabbed the antenna of one, and swung it at the other two. One sunk into the ground, but the other was slammed into the wall. He threw the Heartless in his hand and gave it a kick, sending it into the stands. Death held a hand out and shot a fire-colored bolt at it.

Sora watched the Heartless in the ground closely. The others had seeped into black mist by now. When the Heartless popped up out of the ground, he lunged. He grabbed the black creature and drop-kicked it, soccer style. Sora laughed as another red bolt was shot at the creature, incinerating it.

"That was… that was different." He commented. "Can't say I'm a fan of hand-to-hand, though."

* * *

"Why are you out here alone, Roxas?"

Roxas looked up. He was sitting atop the bent-over tree on the island. "Oh, hey Kairi."

"I thought you and Sora were on a mission." She commented, climbing up onto the tree.

"We were." Roxas replied, staring out across the water at the sunset.

"You sound sad."

Roxas looked down, and then shook his head. "I'm fine." Kairi sighed.

"Do I need Namine to read your memories?"

Roxas pulled his knees up close to his chest and wrapped his arms around them.

"Roxas, just tell me. _Please!_ What's happened?" Kairi pleaded. "Is Sora okay? Tell me!"

Roxas lowered his head. "Kairi… Sora's dead. I… I'm sorry."

Kairi stared at him in shock, mouth agape. "S-Sora can't be dead, he can't be!" She jumped off the tree and ran towards the dock. Roxas sighed.

"I didn't want to tell you yet…" He muttered.

* * *

Riku continued to wander the Spirit World, always wondering how Sora was fairing. He knew that the 'Gods' wouldn't make the challenges easy. And Axel had told him that no one had yet to succeed. No Nobody had a living Somebody, he reminded himself. So far the only Organization XIII member he had seen was Axel. He was considering himself lucky. The red-head insisted on following him around.

"Hey, look out…" Axel winced as Riku tripped over something. Zexion sat up to see what had disturbed him. He closed his Lexicon loudly, and everyone looked over. Riku scampered away.

"Ah shit." Riku muttered as he got to his feet and turned to face the bookworm. By this point Zexion was already on his feet, his one visible eye looking less than amused.

"Didn't think I'd be seeing you again for awhile, Riku."

"You too." Riku replied, keeping his cool and crossing his arms.

"I heard that Sora is trying to revive you."

"So the rumor goes."

"I wouldn't pack my bags. Odds of surviving are worse than the odds of winning the lottery."

"Surviving or winning?"

"Surviving."

Riku's breath hitched. If Sora died he would _never _forgive himself. Zexion smirked. Axel crossed his arms and shot a glare at Zexion. Riku's hands clenched into fists.

"Is there anyway to stop the trial?" Sora could _not _die. Riku would keep him alive by any means possible.

"Think so."

"Thanks." Without another word, Riku ran off.

"Doesn't he want to know what it is?" Zexion sighed. Riku was acting weird. And why was Sora trying to save him, anyway?

"I get the feeling he already knows…" Axel commented, watching as Riku continued to run.

* * *

Sora collapsed to his hands and knees and coughed harshly. He was, needless to say, exhausted. One trial remained. Without his Keyblade, he wasn't sure how he was going to survive. Fate had said that she was not going to affect the income of this trial. It felt weird. He had never noticed it before, but he had been _led_, guided towards a certain outcome. Now he was purely on his own. He coughed again, this time blood paining the ground.

_If I'm dead how can I bleed? _He thought with slight humor.

"Sora!"

Sora looked up at the stands, along the wall behind the bleachers. Fate, Life and Death followed his gaze just in time to see Riku land on one of the bleachers behind them.

"How did you find us?" Death asked in surprise.

"They are connected. Of course he would use that to find his brother." Fate spoke as she turned her back on Riku. She removed his hold on him. The next choices he would make were completely his own.

Riku looked over at Sora. The rest of the arena was empty. "Is he okay?" He asked.

"He's fine, just exhausted. We've given him time to rest before the last trial." Fate answered. "You can go see him if you want." Riku wasted no time in jumping down into the arena and darting to his brother's side. He gently placed his hand on Sora's back.

"Sora, you okay?"

"F…fine." Sora replied, wiping the blood off his lips.

"Sora, you need to stop this."

"I'm too close to quit now. How hard can it be?" Sora smiled weakly.

"Sora, you'll never survive in this condition. Quit while you're ahead."

"Riku, I'll be fine."

"Just a moment." Riku got up and darted back over to the wall. "You already know what I'm going to ask." He said, looking up at Fate.

"Yes, I do, and the answer is no. He has to do this on his own."

"He'll never survive! He's too weak. He's too tired. He'll die. Please…"

"It's his choice whether or not he wants to finish the trial." Fate replied. Riku cursed, and then darted back over to Sora.

"Sora, please, stop the trial. They need you back home. Think about Kairi… she needs you." _I'll end up killing her. _He added to himself mentally.

"Riku, I'll be fine." Sora assured him. Riku sat still for a moment, before pulling Sora into a hug.

"You better be. I'll never forgive myself if you die."

Sora didn't answer right away, slightly surprised, but eventually found his voice. "Don't worry about me."

Riku pulled away and ruffled Sora's hair. "You're my brother; of course I'm gunna worry!" He then got up and ran over to the wall, jumping up onto the stands. He took a seat in the bleachers in front of Fate, Life and Death.

"Okay, Sora," Fate spoke up, "listen carefully. This is your last challenge. You win, you and Riku both return to the world of the living, you forfeit, you return to the world of the living alone, you get destroyed, and you stay here in the Spirit World." Sora forced himself to stand.

"In this challenge, Keyblade Master," Death began in a somewhat mocking tone. He raised his hand above his head. Both Riku and Sora felt the area get darker, but Sora felt the darkness increase by twice as much as Riku. He watched as the shadows began to take on a form… _His _form. Death grinned.

"You will be fighting your own Anti-form."


	5. Don't Trust Death

**Rejected**

"No!" Riku darted up to the edge of the wall, grabbing onto it. "He'll die!" He looked at Life, Death and Fate. "There's no way he can survive! Anti-form's too strong for him to fight hand-to-hand." Death only smirked. Riku growled and looked back at Sora. "Sora, forfeit! You'll never win!" Sora didn't answer, already tensing into a battle stance. Fate wasn't helping him, he knew, but someone else was…

"_Fate may have abandoned you, Keyblade Master, but I will not." _

He couldn't recognize the voice, although it did sound uncannily like Roxas, but there was no way Roxas could help him here.

"_Who are you?" _Sora asked the voice through his heart, the same way it had spoken to him.

"_I am the Wind. You will meet me face-to-face soon enough, with help of the child who is neither light nor dark. Trust the animals that are human. They will lead you to myself and my friends, the Earth and Water." _

"_I don't have much of a choice. I trust you… but why would you want to help me revive Riku?" _

"_I need you and the other two Keybladers if the Earth, Water and myself are to be revived." _

"_Personal interest?" _

"_Yeah." _

"_Prophetic isn't exactly your style, is it?" _

"_Nope." _

Sora had to keep himself from laughing. Death's voice broke the silence that had engulfed the arena.

"FIGHT!"

Anti-form sprung. Sora back flipped quickly and then darted behind the Heartless version of himself, kicking its feet out from under it. The Anti-form fell, surprised, but whipped around and swiped at him. Sora jumped backwards, avoiding injury.

"He's not that fast…" Riku muttered. Death growled something under his breath.

"I thought you said he wouldn't help the Keyblade Master!" Death exclaimed.

"Ventus is part of Sora and Roxas. Lifting my hold on one of the three, or even two, is impossible. I cannot guarantee anything in regards to them. If Leera is kept from retrieving the Hearts lost in Limbo then his friends cannot be revived." Fate responded.

Death grumbled but didn't say anything else.

By this time Anti-form was slowly forcing Sora backwards. Sora bit his lip, and then scraped against his foot against the ground.

"_Three…" _

"_Two…" _

"_One…" _

"_NOW!" _

Sora leaped into the air, and then used Anti-form's head as a kickboard. He flipped in midair, coming around to give Anti-Form a firm kick in the back, sending it sprawling into the wall.

"_Good job." _

"_Thanks." _

Anti-form was quick to spring back, much to Sora's, and the one who has referred to himself as the Wind's, surprise. Anti-form jumped into the air and gave Sora several kicks to the chest in quick succession, before kicking him once more in the midsection and sending him sprawling.

"Sora!" Riku yelled. If he could, he would've jumped into the arena.

Sora landed sprawled out on the ground, stunned, winded and clutching his stomach. He rolled onto his back and groaned. Spots had filled his vision, which was edged with darkness. By this point, Anti-form was nearly upon him, ready to deliver the finishing blow.

Riku couldn't take it any longer. No matter what happened to him, he would _not _let Sora die on his account! He jumped over the wall and darted forwards, skidding across the ground and sending a Dark Aura spell at his brother's Anti-form. The Heartless was flung backwards, but unharmed. Soul Eater in hand, Riku stabbed Sora's Dark Form and it dissolved into the air. He then crouched beside the now unconscious brunette, gently picking him up.

He glanced up as he heard three sets of clapping. Life, Death and Fate were all smiling at him, clapping their hands.

"Congratulations, Riku," Death began, "you and your brother pass." He looked over at Life, who held her hands out in front of her.

"Novo." She spoke. One word, but Riku could feel the magic behind it. He felt Sora disappear, and then everything went white.

* * *

Sora gasped, breathing heavily. He forced an eye open, and then rubbed his forehead. He pushed himself upright, and glanced around at the stunned expressions of his father, Sam and Roxas.

"Did I… did I miss something?" Sora asked.

"You were dead! You died yesterday…" Roxas commented.

"_You passed." _

Sora took a moment, before he realized it was the same voice which had helped him in the Spirit World.

"Crap! Roxas, open a portal to Earth."

"That'd be suicide!"

"I'm not leaving Riku to die again."

"Wait, again?" Sam questioned.

"I'll explain later. Roxas, just do it!" Sora snapped. Roxas hesitated, but obeyed. Sora darted through, and Roxas followed him.

* * *

Sora darted up the ladder of a set of stairs. "Tara!"

The brunette girl looked up from where she sat on the couch. Sarah and Kyle were both there, too.

"Anything on Riku?"

"Yeah, he's been all over the news." Tara explained. "He was admitted to hospital last night; they're about to air something about him next."

Sora and Roxas darted over and sat on the floor quickly.

After the sports segment Riku was mentioned.

"**In breaking news, the immigration escapee has once again escaped from Australian authorities, this time from the Redcliff hospital. Not much is known about it at this point. We **_**do **_**have a section of footage from his original interview." **

Footage taken from a security camera of the interrogation room that Riku was in.

"_So, Kenji," the officer who entered the room began, "you want to tell me your real name." _

"_No." Riku answered smugly. _

"_And why not?" _

"_Because I no speak engrish." Riku answered. "Besides," Riku leaned back in the chair. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." He tipped the chair back onto its back legs and balanced it there. _

"_Try me." _

"_Nah. Don't think I will." _

"_Listen-" _

"_Whatever happened to the 'right to remain silent'?" Riku rested his hands behind his head. "And anything I say or do can be used against me in a court of law and blah blah blah." _

"_Tell me your real name." _

"_You want my real name? Okay, then," Riku rocked forwards to place all the chair legs on the ground. "The name's Riku. Google image it."_

Tara laughed. "Google image it?"

"Where do you get all of your pictures?" Sarah commented. Tara paused.

"Touché."

Sora turned looked back at the screen.

"**Speculation runs as to who this man is, and how he can manage to keep escaping from authorities." **

Sora bit his lip. "Okay, so Riku is alive, and on the run."

"Think he has his radio?" Roxas asked. Sora reached for his own.

"Riku, Riku you there?"

"_I hear yah." _

"Thank Fate."

"_I wouldn't be thanking Fate there, Sora. She did leave you to die." _

"Yeah, I've got some mysterious spirit talking to me mentally to thank."

"_That'd be about right. Hey, anyone up for a bit of a convention?" _

"BOOYEAH!" Tara yelled. "An excuse to drag Sarah to an anime convention!" Sarah groaned. Kyle laughed.

* * *

A couple days later the group was all on the train, minus Kyle. Tara and Sarah had Organization XIII cloaks they had made at home. Sarah gave Tara fifty dollars telling her 'not to wear the black wig'.

The convention was pretty much your basic one. An arcade was off to the side, and stalls were placed around the area. The stage for cosplays was set up, and near that was the autograph area. Tara was lugging around a laptop computer in its case.

"Where would Riku hang out?" Sarah questioned quietly.

"You rang?"

Sarah jumped and spun around. Riku laughed at her. Sora smiled. The silver haired teen was wearing his Organization XIII cloak and blindfold, to throw off pursuers, Sora guessed.

"How're you?"

"Been better." Riku answered, tapping the right side of his chest. "Bullet barely missed my heart and major arteries, thanks to you." Sora smiled.

"I would be dead, too, if it wasn't for that spirit that helped me. Called himself the Wind or something."

"Ventus?" Tara piped up. Sora blinked at her. She sighed. "Never mind."

Things went fairly smoothly for the group. Tara wanted to watch the cosplay competition, and dragged the others along. They sat in the front row. Everything was fine for the first several acts, until a gun cocked somewhere.

"FREEZE!"

Everyone looked at a Yuna cosplayer who had been watching the show. She was standing up, a pistol in either hand. The guns were pointed at the group.

"Should've known. Undercover cops." Tara sighed, a split second after that they were running, the cosplaying immigration officer on their tails.

They ran through the convention center after leaving the area the anime convention was being held. They turned the corner…

To find more guns pointed at them. Two more undercover officers, cosplaying Gunner Rikku and Gunner Paine, had their fire arms pointed at the group.

"Ah New Zealand." Tara cursed.

"Ah New Zealand?" Sarah raised an eyebrow.

"New Zealand equals sheep."

"Oh."

Riku bit his lip, knowing that they were surrounded. He opened a portal in the center of the group, and they wasted no time in getting through and closing it.

* * *

The group ended up in a thick pine forest. A small trail could be barely made out through the trees. Tara, who had tripped through the portal, stood up and brushed herself off. She glanced around.

"I know this place!" She exclaimed. "My old house is that way." She pointed down the trail. "The old log is that way." She pointed up the trail. She looked up. It had been midday when they had fled through the portal, now it was almost dusk. "I'd say it's about… seven."

"Seven? Isn't the sun usually down by then?" Sora questioned.

"Not at this time of the year in Washington." Tara replied. "I remember having an eight thirty bedtime and the sun still being up when I went to bed. And it stayed up until around nine, when twilight set in." She rocked back and forth on her heels. "In winter, though, the sun set around five, five thirty." She sighed, her voice taking a somewhat homesick tone. She looked at her watch and calculated something mentally. "Quarter past seven. Not far off." She changed the time on her watch. "I'm going to duck down to the house around midnight tonight, get some food and stuff."

"Why?" Sora asked her.

"I'm not going back to Australia." Tara answered. "I'll live in the woods. In school and in Scouts we always studied how to use our local environment for food, shelter and clothing. All I need is a bit to start me off." Sora bit his lip. He didn't want to leave this girl out here, alone. She noticed the look on his face. "Hey, the worst things out here are just the Coyotes."

"You can't just stay out here, though." Sora shook his head.

"Why not?"

"Look, just come with us, you two."

Tara perked up. "Where?"

"Destiny Isles."

Tara nearly jumped for joy. Sarah did, though, hitting her head on a tree branch. She glared at the wooden limb, rubbing her head.

_I shouldn't be letting her come with, but it's better than leaving her out here as Coyote food._

"I'm not going home." Riku crossed his arms. He had pulled off his blindfold, but left the cloak on.

"Just a minute, Riku?" Sora asked. "I need help explaining the whole ordeal in the Spirit World."

Riku sighed. "Fine." Sora grinned. Roxas flicked his wrist, opening a portal. Tara and Sarah darted through, Sora, Riku and Roxas following them.

* * *

Sam's head jerked up as the group stumbled through clumsily. Riku sighed, stepping around the mess of tripped people. Sora pulled himself up, and helped Roxas up. Tara and Sarah shot to their feet.

"Hey, Sam!" Tara chirped. Sam smiled.

"Hello. What brings you here?"

"Immigration problems." Tara answered. Sam smiled. A moment later, her father stepped into the room.

"Where have you been?" He demanded, looking at Riku. He stormed over to the teenager and gripped his upper arms. "You realize that we have been worried sick about you?" Riku looked away. His father sighed and pulled his oldest son into a hug. "Thank Gods you're alive."

"I would rather thank Sora than Life, Fate and Death."

His father released him and stepped back, wide-eyed. "You… _died_? You…" He was pale-faced, but Riku couldn't figure out why. He slumped down onto the couch, holding his head in his hands. "This is explains it. This explains everything. You died, Sora's Aspect, or his Soul, left his body to save you…" He sighed. Riku wasn't sure what the big deal was, but he wasn't about to ask. His father leaned back. "Are you injured?"

"Yeah, I was shot in the chest. Barely missed the heart and that. Originally it had hit, though."

"Show me the wound."

Riku paused, but pulled off his cloak – he had been wearing his normal clothing underneath – then his vest and his zip-shirt. A bandage crossed from his shoulder, across the right side of his chest and back around. He slowly unwrapped it with Sora's help. His breath hitched when he saw the wound.

For two inches around where the stitches closing the bullet holes, on both his chest and his back where the bullet had made its exit, the skin had turned black.

"As I feared." His father sighed. "Death left his mark on you."

"How do you know about this?" Riku questioned. His father pulled his left sleeve up past his elbow. His upper arm had turned black.

"The sword had slit my throat. Fate altered it so that it stabbed my shoulder instead." He yanked his sleeve down again. "The darkness expands. It eats away at the flesh. It can be slowed, but not stopped."

"The revival was only temporary, then?" Riku asked. He guessed that, eventually, the darkness would kill whoever Death had inflicted it on. His father nodded.

"Death does not take to losing very lightly."

"What about Sora?" Riku asked. "He underwent their trial to bring me back."

"I'm not sure what will happen to him." His father answered. "I'm assuming that Death left his mark on Sora as well."

Sora could feel his heart fluttering nervously. What if Death was slowly killing him and Riku?

Something suddenly ripped at his heart, and he screamed, clutching his chest.

"_Sora!" _

Riku darted forwards to catch Sora as he fell.

"_P…Please… help me…" _Sora begged the spirit which had helped him in the Spirit World.

"_There is only so much I can do." _

Sora screamed as something tore at his heart again. The pain was unbearable, and he wanted nothing more than for it to go away.

Suddenly, the pain got so bad that his body shut down to block it out, and he fainted.


	6. Friends in Limbo

**Rejected**

Sora stirred, and cracked an eye open. His chest still stung a bit, but the pain was bearable now. Everything was dark, so Sora guessed that it was night. Riku raised his head sleepily to look at the brunette. The two were in their room, Riku having fallen asleep while sitting on the floor beside Sora's bed.

"You're up…" Riku yawned. "How're you feeling?"

"I've been better." Sora answered, forcing himself to sit up. Riku helped steady him.

"_I've done what I can for you, but your life will still be cut short. When, I'm not sure. Just try not to overexert yourself." _

"_Oh, thanks, Windy." _

"_MY NAME IS NOT WINDY." _

Riku raised an eyebrow. "Sora, why are you grinning?"

Sora shook his head. "Don't worry. Just a funny thought."

"Care to share?"

"No."

Riku punched Sora's shoulder lightly. Sora smiled.

"Get some rest, Riku. You look tired." Sora told him. Riku nodded, and then climbed up into his own bed. "I'll be back; I'm going to go get a drink." He stood up and left the room slowly, trying to ignore the stabbing pain in his chest. He held an arm out against the wall to keep himself steady. He missed the first step, however, and tripped. He waited to hit his head, but someone caught him. Whoever it was had feathers on their arms. He looked up at the fifteen year old raven haired teenager, her emerald eyes staring into his blue ones.

"You okay?" She asked him.

"Yeah, thanks." Sora answered. She helped him to his feet. Her hair was short, reaching the base of her skull. Even in the lack of light, Sora could make out the wings on her arms, the feathers the same color as her hair. The wings reached down until they were only about a couple centimeters off the ground.

"Who are you?" Sora asked her as they continued down the stairs.

"Hannah." She answered. "Kazuya, Leera and Leran are my cousins."

"That would make you either mine or Roxas's kid, then?"

Hannah only hummed. "Adopted, though."

"Ah…"

_This is awkward…_ Sora thought. Hanging out with a relative who wasn't even born yet could unsettle anyone.

"_Tell that I need help finding the other two." _

"_What should I call you?" _

"_I dunno! Just say it's the youngest of three or something like that!" _

"_You're a bit help." _

"The youngest of the three needs help finding the other two." Sora relayed. Hannah smiled.

"Leera's in Limbo trying to recover their Aspects as we speak. She also knows where you and Water are."

"_Ask her where! ASK HER!" _

"Where?" Sora asked as they walked into the kitchen.

"Radiant Garden."

"… _Makes sense." _

Sora resisted the urge to smack his face.

"_Ask her who's running the inn?" _

"Who's running the inn?"

"Kazuya and Leran are there right now." Hannah answered, and then smiled. "This is probably very awkward for you, Sora." Sora laughed nervously.

"Awkward? I think that's a bit of an understatement." He commented, pulling a glass from the cupboard and filling it. "You want a drink?"

"I'm fine." Hannah answered, and then went back to talking to Wind. "There definitely aren't any mice at the inn. Kazuya was pigging out last week. I think he made a mouse casserole, too…"

"_That sounds like Kaz. Has Leera accomplished her mission?" _

"Has Leera accomplished her mission?" Sora relayed.

"She can't without killing herself."

Sora froze. "She's made it her mission in life to kill Riku? Why?"

"That's the Twilight Trio's secret, Keyblade Master of the past." Hannah answered. She transformed into a raven and flew out an open window.

"_Well… wonder what's up with her?" _

Sora didn't answer, finishing his water and putting the glass down.

"_SORA!" _

He took a step, and screamed as he felt his heart's connections being shredded at the seams. He fell forwards, hitting his head on the counter. He could feel warm liquid sliding through his hair…

* * *

Riku sat up, and jumped out of his bed. He glanced behind him, finding Sora gone. Sora usually slept longer than him, but maybe he couldn't sleep or something. Riku left the room and headed downstairs, pausing to pick up a black feather on the stairs.

"Odd…" He remarked, before continuing on. He sat down on the couch, and turned on Tara's PS2, which she had hooked up the night before. She'd left Kingdom Hearts II in it, and he didn't know where her other games were, so he turned it off. He checked his watch. Nine in the morning.

"Hey, Riku."

He glanced over his shoulder. "Hey, Tara. Where did you sleep?"

"Your father said that me and Sarah could invade the basement." Tara answered. Riku laughed at her. "I'm going to get something to eat."

"You do that."

Riku sat there for a minute, before Tara broke the silence.

"Riku! Get in here!"

He got up and wandered into the kitchen. First, he smelt the blood, second he spotted the source.

"Sora!" He darted over and picked his brother up. The brunette was still alive, but his pulse was weak and his breathing shallow. Riku put his hand on the gash he found on Sora's head, trying to stop the bleeding. "Cura." Nothing. "Tara, get Roxas! Upstairs, first room on the right." Tara ran off quickly. Riku held Sora close, still holding his hand over the wound.

Roxas darted into the room a couple minutes later, and pulled Oathkeeper out. He pointed it at Sora. "Curaga!" Riku could feel the skin knit together beneath his hand, to an extent. He pulled his hand away.

"I'm an idiot." Riku muttered.

"What happened?" Roxas asked.

"I don't know. He went to get a drink last night and I fell asleep while he was gone… Tara found him this morning."

Roxas looked up at the raven sitting on the windowsill, but ignored it and looked back at Riku.

"We should… probably tell your father… before…"

"Before what, Roxas?"

Riku looked up at the man who had just stepped into the kitchen. Riku looked down, running a hand through Sora's hair.

"My Gods… what happened?"

"I don't know!" Riku answered, clutching his little brother close to him. "I don't know."

"Take him upstairs." His father ordered, somewhat shakily. Riku quickly got up and ran out of the kitchen and upstairs, carrying Sora.

* * *

Darkness surrounded Sora, there was no way to escape it. He was sitting down, hugging his knees. He looked up when he noticed someone walking towards him. It was a young woman in her late teens, with short blue hair.

"Who are you?" Sora questioned.

"My name's Aqua." She answered.

"Where are we?"

"In Limbo. What happened to you?"

"I brought my brother back from the dead, and the mark Death left on me caused me to end up hitting my head and blacking out… I wonder if they've found me…"

"I wouldn't know." She shrugged. "You're a Keyblader, right?"

"Keyblade Master, actually." Sora answered. Aqua's face lit up.

"Come with me, I have a friend who would really like to meet you." She grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet. She led him through the darkness until they found a brown haired man, a couple years older than Aqua.

"Who've you found, Aqua?" He asked her.

"Sora, meet Terra, Terra, I'd like you to meet Sora, the Keyblade Master."

Terra's eyes widened for a moment. "What's the Keyblade Master doing in Limbo?"

"I… I hit my head." Sora answered. "I don't know what happened…"

"Has Ven talked to you?" Aqua asked suddenly.

"Who?"

"Ventus. The youngest of our trio." Terra answered.

"Not that I'm aware of… there has been a spirit talking to me but…"

"Did he call himself Wind or something like that?" Aqua asked.

"Yeah."

Terra smirked.

Sora paused. "Do you two know Hannah?"

"The Raven? Yeah." Aqua nodded.

"She mentioned that Leera was trying to retrieve your Aspects… I'm not sure what she means."

"We know what she's talking about. Souls can also be called Aspects, depends on where you are."

"Ah."

"You shouldn't be here." Terra muttered. "You need to get out as soon as you can."

"How?" Sora asked. Terra tapped his chest.

"You know how."

Sora nodded. "Thanks. Hopefully I'll see you when Leera retrieves your Aspects!" He waved as he ran off.

"See you later." The two waved.

Sora ran until he couldn't run anymore, and he collapsed. He lay there limply, going through his memories of back home. Light filled his vision.

* * *

Sam sighed, continuing to run her fingers through Riku's hair. The two were sitting on the couch. The TV was on, but no one was watching it.

"It's my fault. I shouldn't have let him go alone."

"It's not your fault, Riku." Sam sighed.

"No, it's not."

Both of them looked up at the stairs, at the unsteady brunette clutching the railing for dear life. Riku shot to his feet and up to where Sora was, just in time to catch the brunette as he lost his balance. Riku picked him up and walked down the stairs. He sat Sora down on the couch and sat beside him.

"How do you feel?"

"Lightheaded." Sora answered.

"You had us worried." Sam told Sora.

"Sorry." Sora apologized.

"Hey," Riku put a hand on Sora's shoulder, "it's fine." Sora smiled. Riku looked at the ground. "I figured out what world I'm going to."

"You're leaving?" Sora sighed.

"Yeah… I just can't stay…"

"Why not?"

"I spoke to Leera after Rachael's death. She told me who she was, and why she hates me." He stood up. "Sora, I'll end up killing Kairi."


	7. Leaving Again

**Rejected**

Sora looked up at the night sky from where he sat atop the roof, hugging his knees. Riku surely couldn't mean what he had said… surely he wouldn't kill Kairi… right?

Sora couldn't even be sure of that anymore.

"This is all so confusing!" He yelled to the night sky. "Damn you, Fate." He looked over his shoulder when he heard someone laughing quietly. "What do you want, Roxas?"

"Just wondering what you were doing up here." Roxas answered. "How's your heart?"

Sora turned away and shrugged. "I've been trying to ignore it." Roxas sat down beside him, and suddenly Sora felt like half of him was asleep, pleading, begging to be awakened.

"You feel it, too?" Roxas asked him, "The feeling of being awake yet asleep, and unable to do anything about it?" He smiled slightly. Sora didn't answer right away, trying to remember what he had been told.

"When I went to the Spirit World to save Riku, Fate abandoned me for the last trial, but there was a spirit, who, I suspect, had been trying to talk to me, but had been restrained by Fate, who helped me. He told me that I would meet him face to face, with the help of the child who is neither light nor dark, and to follow the animals that are human, that they would lead me to him and his friends." Sora commented, staring at the star-filled skies. "Then a girl named Hannah mentioned that she knew where he and one of his friends were, saying that they were in Radiant Garden…"

"You might want to contact Leon about it."

"Yeah…"

The two sat in silence for a little while. Sora thought about all the worlds out there, and he knew that it was impossible to visit all of them.

"Look." Roxas pointed to the sky. Sora followed his finger and found a star, just coming into existence. He couldn't help but smile. New stars created new hope, and a new world.

"Maybe we'll go there some day." Sora commented. He wondered what a newborn world was like. It was probably the purest place in existence, before the Darkness corrupted it.

"Maybe," Roxas smiled.

"Riku's leaving tomorrow." Sora commented. "Where do you think he'll go?"

"Who knows?" Roxas shrugged. "He could go anywhere. He did say he'd keep in touch, though." Sora nodded.

"Yeah…"

Roxas yawned loudly. "I think I might head to bed." He stood up and started to walk away. "Night, Sora."

"Night," Sora called back as Roxas jumped off the roof, landing in the backyard.

Sora's attention was diverted as a raven landed beside him. "Hannah?" He asked. The raven gave one, brisk nod before changing into the raven haired half-human half-bird girl.

"Nice night out." She commented. Sora nodded. "Leera was planning to come by some time after Riku leaves."

"How come?"

"She told me not to tell you, and, unfortunately because of what she is, I have to obey." Hannah shook her head.

"A Princess of the Twilight," Sora commented. Hannah only nodded. She looked around, and then quickly stood up.

"Go inside." She ordered.

"What?" Sora looked at her.

"Go! Before he sees you!"

"Who's he?"

"I'll explain later." Hannah answered, before turning into a raven and flying off. Sora quickly darted down the roof, jumping into the back yard and into the house. He tried to figure out who Hannah was talking about. He saw a flash of silver and red through the window, but it was gone in a split second. Sora quickly walked into the living room and sat down. Tara had taken over the TV, playing on the PS2. Sarah was sitting beside her. Riku was leaning on the back of the couch, watching.

"What game is this?" Sora asked.

"Final Fantasy X-2- AH GOD DAMN IT. KILLED BY GARIK AGAIN." Tara cursed. Sarah laughed at her. "Screw this; I'm going to the Sphere Break tournament."

"A math mini-game. How fun." Sarah commented sarcastically.

"Hey, you find multiples of the core sphere's number to make a core break, and you have a quota you have to fill in fifteen turns. SHINRA IS GOING DOWN!"

"You got owned last time."

"45 out of 50 is not owned." Tara told her matter-of-factly.

"Whatever." Sarah rolled her eyes.

Sora quickly lost interest in the game known as Sphere Break, nearly falling asleep watching it. He had to side with Sarah; Sphere Break was boring. He had noticed who the three main characters were, exactly.

"I like that video sphere with Shuyin in it when he's talking to Vegnagun."

"Huhwa?" Sora blinked. Tara rolled her eyes.

"Earlier in the game, you watch this video, and it has a guy named Shuyin on it. He's talking to this reeaaly big machine called Vegnagun and he says 'you're the only one who can save Lenne', and then Yuna gets all jealous because she thinks it's Ti…dus…" Tara's face when red when she remembered that Tidus was in fact, in Kingdom Hearts. "I DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING!" She quickly returned to her game. After awhile, she got up, ejected the game and put a different one in, before restarting the PS2.

"Let me take a wild guess, Kingdom Hearts?" Sarah asked.

"Nope. Final Fantasy X." Tara answered. "Let's see… new game… and a cool cutscene of a Blitzball game."

"Is that seriously Tidus?" Sora asked. "He looks older."

Tara rolled her eyes. "I also like the first sending cutscene, where Yuna dances on the water."

Sora decided not to ask any more questions. It was probably the best decision he'd made all day. None of the stuff Tara or Sarah said made any sense.

"Sarah, remember that one roleplay?"

"Which one?"

"The one with Mase in it I told you about."

"Yeah."

"It's gotten even more insane."

"That doesn't surprise me. What did Xion do this time?"

"You always blame it on Xion. Anyway, she went off and joined Ganondorf and got ordered to 'finish what Ienzo failed', so her, Shadow and several Lizalfos and Wolfos went out to Gaia to find Reno and Mase and pretend to get completely pulverized. And that one kid, Jay, shot a Wolfos by himself, with the gun Reno, idiotically, gave him."

"How old is he supposed to be?"

"What, nine, I think it was? I dunno… I can't be bothered going through hundreds of posts just to find the one that mentions his age."

Sarah laughed.

"Serina still hasn't been seen, though… not sure if Cloud's actually going to be in the town or not…"

"You like plotting in that scheming mind of yours."

"Of course. Every one of those 'which Organization XIII character are you' I always end up as Zexion for a reason."

"That is creepy…" Riku finally spoke up.

"That's right, you caused him to die."

"What?"

"You see," Sarah began, "our theory is, if you hadn't defeated him, he wouldn't have been weakened and would've fought back against Axel and the Riku Replica."

"What if that had killed Axel?"

"Then… I dunno… Roxas would've left the Organization anyway so it doesn't matter, does it?"

"Guess not."

"I reckon," Tara started, "that Axel has the worst death. Marluxia has the longest death scene, I swear… and Vexen… has Turkey Vexen."

Sarah grinned. "Turkey Vexen!"

"I reckon they should've left that in the English version just for fun. 'Back by popular demand; Turkey Vexen!'"

"You guys are insane." Riku shook his head.

"We know." They answered in unison.

Tara randomly pulled out her iPod and started listening to it while playing on the PS2. By this point she was already out of Zanarkand and on Besaid. Yes, she was playing while talking, and she was playing as well as she did when she wasn't talking.

Roxas wandered into the room randomly. "What're you listening to?" He asked. Tara checked the iPod display really quickly.

"You really want to know?"

"What harm could it do?"

"It's a Jesse McCartney song."

"Sorry I asked." Roxas continued on into the kitchen without another thought. Tara laughed.

"I wasn't even listening to Jesse McCartney… it was Simple and Clean…"

Sarah laughed. "Why that song?"

"Because Sanctuary kinda sucked, if you ask me. Much easier to sing along with Simple and Clean."

Sarah shook her head.

"Hey, Sarah, have you heard Utada Hikaru's cover of Boulevard of Broken Dreams?"

"I didn't even know it existed," Sarah answered, "does that answer your question?"

Tara laughed. "Yeah, it does."

Nothing else exciting happened for the rest of the evening. Tara and Sarah retreated down into the basement after awhile, leaving the house eerily quiet without their constant chatter. Eventually, only Sora and Riku were left awake. Sora was sitting on the couch, hugging his knees, while Riku was sitting on the opposite arm rest.

"You should get to sleep." Riku advised.

"Will you be here in the morning?" Sora asked, looking up at his brother. Riku's expression changed. He sighed. He _had _wanted to leave during the night. "Please?"

"Okay." Riku sighed, a hint of a smile showing on his lips.

"Promise?"

"I promise, Sora." Riku couldn't help but laugh. Sora smiled. "Now get to sleep. I'll come up in a couple minutes." Sora nodded, and got up, before heading upstairs with a 'good night.'

Once Riku was sure that Sora was gone, Riku walked over to the nearest window and opened it. Two teenagers, Leera and Leran stepped through. One teenager was Hannah, the other a boy, her age, with brown hair. He also had cat ears and a tail to match his hair color. His eyes were a deep, sapphire blue. His clothing was fairly simple, baggy, blue pants and a grey sweater. His shirt wasn't visible. His shoes, like the others, were army boots. Riku knew who he was; Kazuya, Leera's cousin.

"When are you leaving?" Leera asked.

"Tomorrow." Riku answered, crossing his arms. "What do you guys want from me?"

"Nothing more than for you to disappear." Leran answered.

"I'd love to do that sometimes." Riku muttered. "Look, I'll be gone by tomorrow night, so don't worry about it."

"You better be gone." Leera warned. Riku hummed.

"I will be."

"Good." With that, Leera transformed into a snow leopard and bounded out the window. Hannah transformed into a raven and flew out, Kazuya into a brown leopard and following, and Leran watching, then he shook his head and stepped out of the window. Riku closed it behind them, sighed, and walked up the stairs, retreating to his room. Sora glanced over at him.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Riku questioned in response.

"You look kinda stressed about something."

"I'm fine." Riku answered. "Don't worry."

"Whatever you say," Sora sighed, pulling the blankets over his head with a muffled 'goodnight'. Riku smiled, climbing into his own bed. He stared at the ceiling for awhile, before eventually dozing off.

* * *

Sora rolled over, fell out of his bed and landed on the ground with a loud THUNK. He groaned, and forced himself to sit up. He rubbed his eyes and stood up. Riku was gone, but, then again, he usually slept less than Sora. The Keyblade Master left the room and darted downstairs and into the lounge room. Tara was playing on the PS2, yelling at the TV screen. Sora ignored what she was yelling and looked over at Sam, who was sitting beside the brunette earth girl.

"Where's Riku?"

"He's off at the fish and chips shop getting some lunch."

"Ah." Sora nodded, leaning on the back of the couch. "Whatcha playing?"

"Re: Chain of Memories Reverse and Rebirth. Nearly beat it. I've just gotta defeat Xehanort's Heartless and that's it." Tara answered, focusing completely on the TV screen. "Ah crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap." She cursed.

"Out of potion cards again?" Sam laughed at her.

"I only had one to begin with. Let's try a card duel, why don't we?"

"Yes, let's watch you die."

Tara glared at her out of the corner of her eye. "Seven, four, six, zero, five, nine, eight SUCCESSFUL." She grinned. Sam laughed. "Front flip- ouch."

"You idiot, Tara."

"Oh shut up, Riku. How long have you been watching?"

"Since the card duel."

"Don't mention the- ah crap." Tara put the controller down. Riku smacked her up the back of the head.

"Y'know, I don't like watching myself die." He commented matter-of-factly. Tara tried to stick her tongue out, but quickly gave up.

"I HATE BEING TONGUE TIED!"

"You're what?" Sora blinked.

"Tongue tied. The muscle under my tongue stops right at the tip of it." Tara explained. "It's very annoying."

Riku laughed at her. "Lunch is in the kitchen."

"I'll go wake Sarah."

Riku checked the clock. "It's noon…"

"I know." Tara answered, setting the controller down. "TOUCH AND YOU DIE A MORE PAINFUL DEATH THAN THAT PIXEL VERSION OF RIKU DID."

"I wonder what she would say if I beat Xehanort for her…" Riku mused.

"I HEARD THAT!"

Riku quickly shut up.

"Chip sandwiches, anyone?" Sam asked. Sora and Riku nodded, before darting into the kitchen. Sam laughed at them.

"I'll be leaving tonight." Riku told Sora, taking a bite out of the chip sandwich he had made. Sora didn't answer. "Try to stay out of trouble."

"Do you know when you might come back?" Sora asked. Riku hesitated.

"No, I don't know." He finally answered. Sora just stood there. Riku sighed and put his plate down on the counter. He walked over to Sora and ruffled the Keyblade Master's hair teasingly. Sora didn't respond; didn't bat his hand away, didn't say anything, didn't even look at Riku. Riku pulled his hand away. _The sooner I'm gone the better. _He thought. He picked his food back up and left the room.

Sora didn't move for a few minutes. He didn't want Riku to leave again, just because of something Leera claimed. The others grabbed their food, and left without disturbing him. Sora wasn't sure what time it was when he finally left the kitchen. Tara had beaten the level on the game she was on, and had started the game over. He thought he saw himself out of the corner of his eye, and any other time he would've questioned it, but he just continued upstairs and into his room.

He noticed the absence of several of Riku's belongings, but ignored it. He curled up on his bed and pulled the blankets over his head. He heard the door open, and someone sat down beside him.

"Sora."

Sora didn't answer. Riku sighed.

"Come on, Sora. At least say something. You're making me feel bad for leaving…"

"Then don't go." Sora answered. Riku sighed again.

"Do I at least warrant a goodbye?"

"Goodbye, fuck off, don't ever come back." Sora answered sourly.

Riku felt his heart strings twang painfully. He sighed.

"Fine." He stood up and left the room, closing the door quietly behind him. Riku walked down the stairs slowly. Why did Sora hate him now? He shook his head. It didn't matter.

Riku's father was waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs. At his feet was a black backpack, which Riku picked up and swung it onto his back.

"Sora hates me now." He sighed.

"He'll be fine. Don't worry about it; just come home when you're ready, alright?"

Riku nodded, and opened up a portal. "I'll see you again sometime, maybe." His father nodded. Riku turned and stepped through the portal. It closed behind him.

_I wish I could tell you the truth... I'm not coming home._


	8. Request from the bird that is Human

**Rejected**

"Have you seen Sora?" Roxas asked. "There's a weird bird-girl asking for him."

"He hasn't left his room." Tara answered, playing on the PS2. "Five four seven eight CORE BREAK!" Roxas rolled his eyes. She was playing that math game again.

"Still?"

"Still- one nine eight CORE BREAK."

Roxas darted up the stairs two at a time, and over to Sora's room. He knocked on the door loudly. "Sora, it's me."

"Come in."

Roxas slowly opened the door and stepped into the room. Sora was sitting in the corner, hugging his knees.

"Someone's at the door for you. She's a bit weird-looking."

"Does she have wings?" Sora asked in somewhat of a sigh. Roxas nodded. Sora stood up shakily – he hadn't left his room since Riku had left a week before, not even to eat – and left the room. Roxas followed him. "Come in, Hannah." The brunette called once he was in the lounge room. The raven-haired winged girl stepped into the room.

"Sora, Roxas, Leera needs your help. We've had trouble with a certain person as of late, and, no matter what we do, we can't go to Radiant Garden without him stopping us from finding _them._"

"Who are they?" Roxas asked.

"Some friends of our's," Hannah answered. "But, there's a bit of a problem…"

"What?" Sora asked.

"Not only are we being kept out of Radiant Garden, only _Riku _knows the password to the chamber that they're being held in."

Sora turned away and began to walk away. "Forget it."

"Look, if you won't do that then go to Hyrule, at least. One of our acquaintances there needs your help. You may make some friends there, too." Hannah paused, and then added, "If I remember, last time you went to Hyrule you didn't actually meet anyone, you were just investigating that forest." Sora glanced at her, then at Roxas. Tara had paused her game, and then she suddenly started talking a hundred miles an hour.

"Hyrule-did-she-say-Hyrule-can-I-come-too-Din-is-cool."

Everyone looked at her blankly. Sarah's palm became best friends with her face.

"Hannah, which Hyrule is it? Is there Vaati? Gufuu? Zant? A magic Ocarina? The Great Sea? The Sheikha? The Twili? The Kokiri? The Rito? The Picori? Four Sword or the Master Sword? Is there Shadow Link?"

"Uhh…" Hannah blinked, not having caught a word Tara had just said. "Just… wait and see?" She shrugged, and looked at Sora for help. He only shook his head. He didn't smile. "You should get something to eat." She advised, before transforming into a raven and flew out through an open window.

"The animals that are human." Sora realized. Roxas looked over at him, and then peered out the window. Hannah was nowhere to be seen. He looked over as his father stepped into the room.

"You're up!" He exclaimed. Sora laughed.

"Yeah…"

"You hungry?"

"A bit." Sora admitted.

"I'll get you something to eat, then."

"Thanks." Sora nodded as his father left the room again. Sora sat down on the couch.

"So, can I come to Hyrule? _Pleeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaase? _I even have maps of the different versions!"

"Well, you seem to know more about Hyrule than the rest of us, so I don't see why not…" Sora answered. Tara would've done a back flip off the couch, had she been physically able to. As soon as she finished Sphere Break she turned off the PS2 and darted downstairs, then brought up a white consol; a Nintendo Wii. She hooked it up to the TV, but didn't turn it on, saying that she'd play it later. Sora noticed the small green velvet pouch she had with her. She pulled out a small, blue object with three triangles arranged so that they formed a larger one just at the base of the mouthpiece. Several holes were positioned on the surface.

"Got this for my birthday ages ago." She muttered.

"How many songs can you actually play?" Sarah asked her.

"How many songs are in the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time?"

"How would I know that?"

"Good point." Tara hummed. She raised the small blue instrument to her lips and began to play. Almost as soon as she finished it started raining. "That… is just a coincidence…"

"What did you play?" Sarah asked her.

"Song of Storms."

Sarah laughed.

"Remind me not to play the Prelude of Light, Minuet of Forest, Bolero of Fire, Serenade of Water, Nocturne of Shadow or the Requiem of Spirit."

"Why?" Sora laughed.

"Because I don't want to be teleporting out of here in a little sparkle of colored light." Tara answered. "Also, I can't play Oath to Order because I don't want the Four Giants showing up… I wonder what the Song of Time's effect here would be… 'cuz in Hyrule it just opened hidden passage ways, in Termina it took you back through time…" She hummed. "The Song of Inverted Time slowed time down, the Song of Double Time skipped to the closest half day mark…"

"You are making no sense whatsoever." Sarah commented.

"I know." Tara answered. "I know."

* * *

Sora nearly jumped out of his skin at the sight of the black hawk sitting on the sill of the open window. Its piercing green eyes stared at him.

"So you can turn into birds other than a raven."

The hawk, who Sora now recognized as Hannah, nodded. With a single flap of its wings, it glided into the room. Hannah reverted to her human form in mid-air and landed easily on her feet.

"We're going to Hyrule." Sora told her. Hannah's face lit up.

"Leera will be happy to know that!" She smiled. Sora nodded. "Is Roxas going with you?"

"Of course he is. Tara's coming, too, because she knows more about Hyrule than me and Roxas put together."

"Ah, she would… tell her 'the wolf calls at twilight's falls', she should be able to understand what it means."

Sora nodded. "What does it mean?"

"Ask Tara." Hannah answered. Sora could hear the faint sound of that small, blue instrument from downstairs.

"What's she going to do this time?" He sighed. Hannah laughed.

"It's just Zelda's Lullaby, and unless there's a wall with the Triforce on it somewhere in here, nothing will happen."

"Good."

Hannah laughed. "Alright, well, when do you plan to leave?"

"When do you need us to?"

"Under a week's time, Leera said." Hannah answered

"We'll be out of here in five days, then." He answered. Hannah smiled.

"We really owe you one. Our friends have been requesting help for awhile, but we're preoccupied. Once you get there everything should just… unfold." Hannah climbed onto the window sill and spread her wings.

"Wait, what do you mean-"

She was already gone. She had jumped out of the window and transformed into a raven in midair. Sora cursed, and then left his room. It felt kind of strange being out of his room. He had kept himself cooped up in it for a week, after all…

He walked down to the lounge room. Tara had a Wii Remote in hand, swinging it back and forth. She shook the nunchuck from side to side at one point as well.

"Keese are boring." She complained. "Ganon is fun to fight. Midna does practically all the work." Sarah obviously wasn't up yet, so Tara was talking to herself.

"Hey, Tara."

Tara paused the game and looked up at Sora. "Hey there!" She chimed.

"Hey, that bird-girl told me to tell you something like 'the wolf calls at twilight's falls' or something along those lines. She said you'd be able to figure it out." Sora relayed. Tara bit her lip.

"Twilight's falls… where is that?" She muttered. "I don't like riddles…" She muttered. Sora laughed at her.

"Well, you have five days to figure it out."

Tara nodded excitedly.

"I take it Sarah doesn't want to tag along?"

"Nah. She hasn't played the Legend of Zelda."

"Right…" Sora wasn't going to ask questions when he knew he probably wouldn't understand the answers.

"Have you seen Roxas?"

"Yeah, he should be downstairs downloading some files for me."

"Successfully?"

"I should probably check…" Tara put the Wii remote and nunchuck down and darted into the basement. Roxas came into the lounge room a couple minutes later.

"She kicked me off the computer." He commented. Sora laughed.

"We're heading to Hyrule in five days. Hannah said everything will 'unfold' once we get there."

"I'm not quite sure I get it…"

"She didn't explain."

"Oh." Roxas paused. "Has Riku tried to contact us?"

Sora shook his head, a sorrowful expression on his face. "No, he hasn't… hey, I'm going to go find Dad, tell him when we're leaving."

"Alright." Roxas nodded. Sora left the room without another word.


	9. Separation in Hyrule

Author's notes: Okay. This is the last chapter of Rejected. There should be one more story before I finish this series, unless my mind comes up with more stuff, or you guys want more. After the series finishes, I'll start posting the side-stories.

This ties into the prologue of the next story, which is a Legend of ZeldaXKingdom Hearts crossover. I don't think I did Midna justice when I described her, so I suggest going onto Google Images or Deviant art and searching for 'Midna true form' if you don't know what she looks like. Or even if you do, 'cuz you might need a bit of a refresher.

Without further wait, onto the story!

**Rejected**

Riku groaned. His head hurt. His sides hurt. His arms hurt. His legs hurt. Hell, everything hurt. He opened his eyes. Everything was black. It took him a moment to realize that he was face-down on black stone. Everything smelt of Twilight. No Light, no Dark, just Twilight. He felt a hand on his back.

"Hello? Can you hear me?" A girl spoke to him.

Riku tried to move to look at the person, but was unable to.

"Get the Princess." Spoke a second voice, a man, this time.

"Yes, sir."

Riku heard footsteps running away from him.

"You're lucky, son. Why you in here? Not that you can speak or anything. It's been ages since a Hylian was sent to this realm. But you're not Hylian, are you? Your ears aren't pointed, and your clothing is… weird."

Riku didn't even try to answer.

"What is going on?" A third voice, a young woman, rang out. She sounded like she had authority here.

"This boy fell into this realm. He hasn't said anything since we've found him."

"Impossible… I shattered the mirror in Hyrule."

"Maybe the Goddesses didn't like him."

"That I doubt highly. Let's get him into the palace before we get attacked by any remnants of Zant's forces."

"Of course, Princess."

Riku felt himself leave the ground, being carried in someone's arms. His mind didn't register much else before he felt himself slip from consciousness again.

* * *

Sora's hand strayed to his pendant. He ran his finger over each of the gems, pausing on the purple amethyst. The gems glowed slightly, showing that each of the three Keybladers were alive and well. The Keychain to the Kingdom Key was around his wrist like a bracelet. He sighed, and left the room. He headed down the stairs. Tara had a backpack at her feet, and she had just finished putting a large book with a gold fabric cover on it into the bag. Roxas was adjusting his wristband with the chakram and the sapphire on it. The Keychains for Oathkeeper and Oblivion were around either of his wrists.

"Sarah's still sleeping…" Tara frowned. "I'LL BE BACK!" She darted down into the basement. She returned a couple minutes later, a bruise forming on her arm.

"Sarah says bye." She said, grabbing her backpack and swinging it onto her shoulders. Sora laughed at her.

"We ready?" Sora asked Roxas, who nodded, and then opened a portal. The three stepped into it…

* * *

Riku blinked. He was laying on something soft… a bed? He looked over at the door. He wasn't sure how to describe the… person… he saw. Her skin was mainly a ghostly pale white, contrasted by the areas that were a pure black. She wore little clothing. Two pieces of black cloth with circular markings on them covered the front and back of her lower body, a hooded cape-like piece flowed behind her. Her hair was a bright orange color, two pieces of it were bound by a golden ring at her chest, flowing together. A circlet of silver rested on her forehead.

"You're awake." She remarked. Her red eyes sparkled in amusement as a small smirk formed on her lips.

"Supposedly." Riku groaned as he sat up, rubbing his forehead.

"So, why are you here?"

"That's a good question." Riku answered.

"Well, then, what's your name?"

"Riku." Riku looked over at her. "What's yours?"

"It's Midna. And I'll have you know that I'm the Princess of this realm." She answered.

"What is this realm, anyway?"

"The dark realm, the twilight realm, the Hylians have different names for it."

"It definitely isn't the dark realm. I've been there before." Riku sighed slightly. Midna gave him a quizzical expression, but didn't ask.

"I'll send one of the Twili by later to check on you." Midna said before she left. Riku didn't answer.

* * *

Sora cracked an eye open, but quickly closed it again as light filled his vision. His side was sore, and he quickly found why; he'd landed on a large rock jutting out of the ground. He felt himself blinking in and out of consciousness, until he passed out completely.

* * *

Tara sat up, rubbing her forehead. She glanced around, and instantly froze, slowly grabbing her backpack from where it had fallen a couple feet away from her.

"Sora… Roxas… help?" She looked around slowly, finding that she was alone, with a Lizalfos, a large, humanoid lizard in armor with duel scimitars, staring her straight in the eyes.

"UM… Himyname'sTarayoulooklikeyouwanttokillmesoI'mgoingtogonowBYEBYE!" With that, Tara grabbed the bag and bolted. She knew the Lizalfos were fast creatures, so she tried to outmaneuver it, rather than out run it.

* * *

The first thing Roxas noticed was that he was floating on his back. The second was that there was a strange, crystal-like roof over his head. He moved so that he was upright, treading water to stay afloat. He looked around at the strange, fish-like people around him. A child dove into the water and swam up to him.

"Hello there. I'm Prince Ralis of the Zora people." He introduced himself. "Who are you?"

"R-Roxas."

"You're lucky, Roxas. A couple of Zora warriors in the lake below found you unconscious underwater. They brought you up here and revived you, although you only remained awake for a moment before fainting again."

"I owe your warriors my thanks, then." Roxas lowered his head in thanks.

"It is our honor." Ralis responded. "Would you like to see the rest of our domain?"

"If it is no trouble, I would love to." Roxas answered.

"It is no trouble at all." Ralis answered, and then paused. "Not afraid of heights, are you?"

For a moment, Roxas's mind flicked to various height-including stunts he had pulled, including his running up the Skyscraper of Memories, and a few height-including accidents he had been involved in, such as falling of the Station Tower.

"Not at all."

"That's good." Ralis went under and swam from the circular pool of water down to a bit of a river-like area. Roxas swam after him. He soon felt the current pulling him. Ralis was gone, and he quickly saw why. The Zora prince had swam over the edge of a water fall, although he quickly reappeared at the top, swimming against the current. He was still underwater, apparently housing the ability to breath in aquatic environments. He grabbed Roxas's wrist and pulled him along and over the edge. Roxas went over the falls head first, going underwater like a bent arrow. Ralis, on the other hand, was a spear. Roxas quickly found his way back to the surface. Ralis swam around under the water before surfacing.

"Welcome to Zora's Domain."

* * *

Sora stirred, but he went unnoticed.

"Link, you said you found the young man in the forest, correct?"

"Yes, Rusl."

"You two! He's waking up."

Sora forced his eyes open, and tried to sit up. He was quickly pushed back down onto the couch he was lying on by a woman with blond hair, before he had barely moved. Sora blinked in confusion, but didn't speak. He tried to shift his right arm, but a sharp pain ran through it. He hissed and looked over at it, spotting the wooden brace on it. He also noticed that his jacket and sleeve-less shirt were missing. A bandage was wrapped around his chest and stomach.

"Try not to move too much, please." The woman advised him. Sora nodded.

"I found you out in the forest."

Sora looked over to a young man, about seventeen, eighteen, wearing a green tunic with a strange green hat. He had a sword strapped to his back, with a shield clipped onto it. His hair was blond, and his eyes were a deep blue color.

"A Bulblin was attacking you while you were unconscious, which is where your injuries are from."

"A what?" Sora blinked.

"A Bulblin." The young man answered. When Sora gave him a blank look, he sighed and shook his head. "A monster. There aren't as many left as there used to be, with Ganondorf gone and all..."

Sora only hummed. Then he remembered Roxas and Tara. "Was I alone?" He asked. The young man nodded. Sora cursed. Who knew what had happened to Tara and Roxas by now, considering the earlier of the two wasn't a fighter.

"Who are you, anyway?"

"My name's Sora. I'm from a place far from here." Sora answered simply.

"I'm Link, and this is Uli, and Rusl." The green-clad teenager introduced himself, and then motioned to the woman and a swordsman with blond hair standing by the door. A loud squawking, like that of a raven, rang out and Sora could hear someone shooing birds away. Said raven flew in through the open window and landed gently on Sora's shoulder.

"You followed me." Sora remarked, holding his left hand out for Hannah. She jumped onto it and used it as a perch. The three people in the house were surprised by his casual speak to the annoying pest. "Find Tara and Roxas for me, would you?" Hannah spread her wings, and, with a single flap, glided back out through the window. He glanced over at Link, who seemed to be deep in thought, his expression holding a bit of remembrance in it. Sora had to admit that he was slightly curious, but didn't say anything.

Hyrule seemed, well, interesting so far. Getting separated from his teammates, attacked by monsters and then waking up in a strange house was not exactly on Sora's 'to do list'.

* * *

Author's notes: There is no reason why Roxas is the only one not getting attacked by monsters, actually... meh, anyway, I hope to see most of you in the next installment of the series.


End file.
